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In recent years, very high frequency (VHF) converter has attracted much attention. However, with rich parasitic parameters and complex resonance links, there are some great difficulties to the modeling of such systems. Taking the on-off controlled VHF resonant boost converter as an example, this paper presents an accurate modeling and analysis method that considers multiple parasitic parameters. First, the closed-loop VHF converter system is divided into a main network and a parasitic oscillation network. Then, based on the operation analysis, an equivalent circuit model characterized by a time-varying input voltage source and two variable duty-cycle controlled switches is proposed. It worth noting that both the time-varying input and the controlled switches take into account the influences of the parameters. Furthermore, the periodic approximate analytical solution of the output voltage in the on stage is obtained by using the equivalent small parameter method to the proposed circuit model. And then combining the solution of the parasitic oscillation network and on-off state switching conditions, the steady-state waveform of output voltage can be obtained quickly. Finally, a prototype with operating frequency of 21.44 MHz is built to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article develops a series of improved Z-source dc–dc converters to realize additional voltage pumping and high power density through two propositions. Proposition 1 develops two improved positive- and negative-connected Z-source dc–dc converters (IPZSC and INZSC), using the same number of components as in the existing voltage pumping Z-source converter. Based on Proposition 1, Proposition 2 proposes four novel embedded Z-source dc–dc converters (EZSCs) by placing the source in a specifically designed position, which realizes lower voltage stresses across capacitors. Various technical aspects of the proposed EZSCs, including operations, power losses, and small signal stability analyses are detailed in this paper. Besides, comparisons between the proposed series of improved Z-source dc–dc converters and other existing Z-source dc–dc converters are thoroughly made to demonstrate the better performance of the EZSCs. Finally, experiments are conducted to well validate the effectiveness and superiority of the proposed converter circuits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Existing centralized equalization methods can only equalize one battery cell at a time, which is the main reason that limits the equalization speed and practicability of such methods. To overcome this limitation, this article proposes an integrated cascaded multiport converter (ICMPC) to optimize the structure and performance of the centralized equalization system. Through the proposed converter, the simultaneous and single-stage energy exchange between multiple unbalanced cells and the battery string can be achieved, so as to effectively improve the equalization speed. Meanwhile, the number of ports of the ICMPC is easy to expand, and the optimized system possesses the advantages of compact structure, high efficiency, and high cost effectiveness compared with conventional methods. As the basic and typical form of the ICMPC, the integrated cascade three-port converter is analyzed as an example in terms of operation principle, parameter design, and zero-voltage switching analysis. Finally, to confirm the theoretical analysis, a laboratory prototype is designed, and a comprehensive comparison is performed. The experimental and comparative results fully prove the practicality and superiority of the proposed ICMPC-based centralized equalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current-fed isolated dc/dc converters are suitable solutions for applications requiring low high-frequency current ripple and convenient current control, such as fuel cells and Li-ion batteries. The existing current-fed isolated dc/dc converters are combined with a current-fed bridge-type terminal and a voltage-fed bridge-type terminal, which can only partially obtain the merits of the current-fed terminals. In this article, a dual-current-fed dual-active-bridge dc/dc converter is proposed with the inductor connection on both terminals. Hence, low high-frequency current ripple and convenient current control can be realized on both sides. Besides, it can also realize the voltage spike suppression without snubber circuits and has the inherent soft-switching operation and voltage boost function. Then, the operation principle, design process, and loss analysis of the proposed converter are presented in detail. The experimental results based on a proof-of-concept laboratory prototype are given to verify the steady-state and dynamic performance of the proposed converter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, a new resonant three-port dc–dc converter with dual half bridges plus one full bridge is proposed, which can realize bidirectional power flow between each port. The resonant capacitor has three functions in the circuit: the resonant capacitor can improve the magnetic bias of half bridge converter, and therefore, the transformer saturation can be avoided; the resonant capacitor is introduced to make the inductor current close to sine wave, so that the eddy current loss of the transformer can be reduced; by setting the resonant frequency of one of the three ports equal to the switching frequency, the mutual interference between the other two ports can be reduced, so that the hardware decoupling effect is achieved. First, the operation principle of the three-port converter is analyzed. Second, the steady-state model of the converter is established, and the power transmission characteristics and soft-switching characteristics are analyzed. Third, the cause of the power coupling between ports is analyzed and the hardware decoupling method is proposed. Finally, the number of magnetic elements is reduced through magnetic integration, and the correctness of the theoretical analysis is verified by simulation and prototype experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel control technique that guarantees a ripple-free output current and voltage of a dc–dc multiphase staked interleaved converter is proposed. The conventional multiphase interleaved converters have been extensively used in various applications. However, ripple cancellation in these converters solely depends on the number of phases and can only be achieved at specific duty cycles. On the other hand, wide-range and ripple-free output are important paramount features for many modern applications. Therefore, the presented converter aims to combine the advantages of both the multiphase interleaved and the stacked converters into a single-unit converter suitable for high-power applications. Ripple-free output current/voltage is always guaranteed regardless of the number of phases and duty cycle values. This feature is accomplished by adding a fractionally-rated phase-leg to the conventional multiphase interleaved converter and modulating it with the proposed control approach. The configurable logic block, a state-of-the-art tool developed by Texas Instruments, is utilized to reduce the hardware size of the entire conversion system while increasing its speed and flexibility. Extensive simulation studies are carried out to confirm the functionality of the proposed control scheme. A laboratory porotype is developed to validate the effectiveness of the proposed control method experimentally. With only a few more components, significant reductions in output ripples are achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates the matrix coupled “all-in-one” magnetic structure that combines both series coupling and parallel coupling for pulse-width modulated (PWM) power conversion. A systematic analysis of the current ripple reduction mechanism is performed. Current ripple steering among asymmetric series coupled windings is discussed. The transient performance of the matrix coupled inductor is demystified, providing insights for analyzing converter dynamics and its large- or small-signal modeling. To quantify the benefits of matrix coupling, a figure of merit is defined by comparing the current ripple of a matrix coupled inductor to that of a discrete inductor given the same transient speed. The comparison results indicate that a higher number of phases and a stronger matrix coupling coefficient amplify the benefits of matrix coupling. A 1 V-to-5 V input, 1 V-to-5 V output, four-phase matrix coupled synchronous SEPIC converter with planar PCB integrated magnetics is built and tested. The matrix coupled SEPIC prototype can support load current up to 185 A at 5 V-to-1 V voltage conversion with a maximum power density over 470 W/in $^\text{3}$. Compared to commercial discrete inductors, the matrix coupled inductor has a 5.6 times smaller size and 8.5 times faster transient speed with similar current ripple and current rating. The experimental results validate the matrix coupling concept and the theoretical analysis, opening the possibilities toward wide adoption of ‘‘all-in-one-magnetics” in PWM topologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dickson-type dc–dc converters have gained renewed interest in recent years due to their best-in-class volt-amp switch utilization. In addition, “hybrid” switched-capacitor (HSC) structures increase passive component utilization while avoiding the slow-switching limit (SSL), and yet, most HSC work to date has done little to assess large signal voltage ripple behavior and subsequent passive utilization limits. This work contributes a comprehensive review of contemporary Dickson-type HSC converters before introducing eight fundamental reduced HSC Dickson structures, including three that are proposed here. Analysis allowing characterization of large signal operating points, capacitor sizing regimes, switching schemes, and maximum allowable power throughput is introduced. The analysis for “split-phase” switching is also presented in detail, without making small ripple approximations. Furthermore, an expression for large ripple flying capacitor energy density utilization is derived, assisting with optimal topology selection and revealing that split-phase operation may be preferable for conversion ratios greater than 6:1. All analysis is verified in simulation, with an additional discrete hardware prototype further validating a complex case of resonant split-phase timing. The analytical results of 17 distinct Dickson variations are recorded, assisting with topology selection and design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The three-phase dual active bridge (3ph-DAB) converter is a promising topology attracting increasing attention. However, because it is limited to symmetrical three-phase bridge control, the conventional single-phase-shift control method (SPS) remains the most common method for 3ph-DAB converter. The obvious shortcomings of SPS control include the soft-switching failure, massive circulating energy, and high root-mean-square (rms) current value at the light load, particularly with large voltage variation-ratio conditions. To overcome these drawbacks, this article proposes a novel asymmetrical phase shift (APS) control strategy. Unlike other optimized modulation schemes, this optimized strategy breaks the symmetrical control rules of three-phase bridges by introducing variable phase-shift angles among three-phase legs. The novel APS control strategy can substantially reduce the current's rms value and extend the soft-switching operation range due to these additional phase-shift angles. Further, the analytical solutions for the optimal phase-shift angles are derived by solving the global optimal condition equations. Analytical solutions, compared with complex numerical solutions derived by other optimized schemes, can be easily adopted in digital implementation and perform well under changing parameter conditions. Finally, experimental results verify the outstanding performance of the proposed modulation strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a PCB winding coupled inductor design for both high efficiency and effective common-mode (CM) noise reduction in a silicon carbide (SiC)-based soft-switching three-phase ac–dc converter. A balance technique is applied to reduce the CM noise, creating a return path with additional inductors. The inductors in the main circuit and return path are coupled in one core and implemented with PCB windings. A winding interleaving structure with strong coupling between the main inductors is selected to minimize the winding loss and to improve the converter efficiency; however, the interwinding capacitance brought on by the winding interleaving worsens the CM noise. An inductor model including the capacitance is introduced, and its impact on the CM noise is analyzed. A novel inductor structure is proposed to scale back the interwinding capacitance and to enhance the CM noise reduction capability. Experiments with a SiC-based 25-kW soft-switching three-phase ac–dc converter prototype validates the performances of the proposed PCB winding coupled inductors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a piezoelectric energy harvesting interface circuit with high adaptability to external inductors, transducer types, and vibration frequencies. High output power can be obtained with the help of triple bias-flip and optimal flipping time control. The triple bias-flip enables both higher efficiency and the use of an inductor with lower volume compared to conventional bias-flip topologies. Besides, owing to the highly adaptive circuit design and reverse current reduction in the LC resonant loop, the proposed interface circuit not only automatically adjusts flipping time according to external inductance and piezoelectric transducer, but also reduces the reverse current of the inductor effectively. Also, an active rectifier that can reduce conduction loss of the diode-based rectifier has been implemented. The prototype integrated circuit has been fabricated in 180-nm CMOS technology and the chip area is 0.646 mm2. The measurement results show that the proposed circuit achieves cold start-up without any external power supply, and can work with high efficiency when the external inductor is varying from 0 to 10 mH, transducer capacitance is changing from 20 to 90 nF, and vibration frequency is ranging from 35 to 200 Hz. The measured maximum output power of the proposed design can achieve as high as 473% enhancement to the full-bridge rectifier. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel modulation scheme for a bidirectional isolated pulsewidth modulation active-clamp (PAC)-Ćuk converter is presented in this article. In the PAC-Ćuk converter, the clamping circuit consisting of a capacitor, a series inductor, and an active device enables zero-voltage-switching (ZVS) turn-on capability of all the active devices. This additional circuit equips the converter with three independent control parameters. This article discusses power transfer, ZVS region, and circulating current dependency on the control parameters across the converter gain. Minimal circulating current is generally desired to decrease the conduction losses. With the help of the proposed modulation technique, the optimization of the control parameters to achieve lower circulating current while ensuring ZVS operation is also discussed. A 2-kW experimental converter is also designed and fabricated to validate the analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A conventional asymmetrical half-bridge (AHB) converter is one of the widely used topologies in low to medium power applications. However, when it is designed in a wide input voltage range, it operates with a low duty ratio at nominal input voltage. In addition, it has disadvantages, such as a dc offset of magnetizing current, an unbalanced average current of the diode, and a nonlinear voltage gain due to asymmetrical operation. To solve these disadvantages, an AHB converter with linear voltage gain is proposed. The proposed converter has a structure in which a capacitor is added as a voltage source to obtain a symmetrical operation by extending the commutation period. Therefore, it has a narrow range of operating duty ratio and a zero dc offset of magnetizing current. Due to the zero dc offset of magnetizing current, it has a small size transformer and improved zero-voltage switching conditions of the primary-side switches. In addition, it has a low primary rms current and a balanced average current of the diode. Consequently, the proposed converter has high efficiency under the entire load conditions. A 300–400 V input and 48 V/400 W output prototype is tested to verify the feasibility of the proposed converter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents an efficient and fast echelon battery equalization method based on wide voltage range bidirectional converter combined with DBSCAN (density-based spatial clustering of applications with noise) clustering control strategy. Thanks to the wide voltage range and bidirectional buck-boost characteristics of the four-switch bidirectional converter, the battery energy can be reasonably redistributed between the battery and the super capacitor. The converter operating in synchronous rectification mode can not only achieve bidirectional energy flow in a wide voltage range, but also has a high energy conversion efficiency. The DBSCAN clustering algorithm is used to divide all battery cells into groups, and each group may contain one or more adjacent and nonadjacent battery cells. First, the nonadjacent single cells are balanced and integrated into adjacent group with the closest voltage. Then, the groups with different voltages are balanced by group-to-group, thereby realizing rapid balance of the entire battery pack. In order to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method, simulations and experimental verification were carried out. The experimental results show that, comparing with traditional battery balancing methods, the proposed method achieves shorter balancing time and higher balancing efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The lack of uniform production of panels in photovoltaic (PV) systems and snowball effects in fuel cell (FC) systems led us to use a separate dc–dc converter. In addition, in the PV and FC systems, the output voltage is low. Hence, dc–dc boost converters are commonly used in a series connection. Each small unit of a PV or FC operates independently. Therefore, another problem arises in the system that uses the series connection of the converter's output. Owing to the unequal electricity production of the cells, a voltage imbalance occurs at the output terminals. To create voltage balance, a modular structure grounded on a three-level boost converter was investigated. The main objective of this article is to design the control of a modular topology, allowing perfect control of the dc-bus voltage, even with mismatched input powers. The proposed control strategy ensures dynamical properties independent of the operating point, voltage balance, and robust control of the dc output voltage with respect to load perturbations. To ensure the balance of voltages and the control of currents, a sliding mode controller based on indirect synthesis was used. To control the dc–bus voltage, an energy controller is proposed that ensures dynamical performance independent of the operating conditions. The performance in terms of tracking and regulation, as well as its effect on the voltage balance of the output capacitors, was validated through simulations and experimental results. A comparison with a classical proportional integral (PI) approach for controlling the dc-bus voltage was performed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dynamics of nonresonant dual-active-bridge converter (DABC) are simultaneously affected by the transient modulation strategy and controller design. In general, inappropriate transient modulation strategies can lead to nonzero transient dc offsets in the inductor current and transformer’s magnetizing current, thus introducing excessive trajectory tracking error and time delays between the pulsewidth modulation generator and controller. Consequently, truly optimal transient responses cannot be achieved solely through a high-performance controller, unless the modulation-induced transient dc offsets can be completely eliminated. This article presents a comprehensive review of the optimized transient phase-shift modulation (OTPSM) strategies for single-phase-shift modulated DABC, and derives a novel optimal modulation method referred to as symmetric single-sided OTPSM (SS-OTPSM), which is based on a unified theoretical framework of OTPSM and an additional condition enabling a full elimination of all undesired transient dc offsets. The proposed SS-OTPSM can be easily and cost-effectively implemented in a cycle-by-cycle manner, and inherently compatible with fast controllers. Additionally, in order to more accurately match DABC’s power transfer model under SS-OTPSM, an enhanced model predictive controller (EMPC) is proposed. By a combined use of SS-OTPSM and EMPC, ultrafast and completely dc-offset-free dynamics can be achieved without measuring the inductor current. The effectiveness of the proposed schemes is verified by closed-loop simulation and experimental results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, a novel soft switched interleaved boost structure with a simple auxiliary circuit is proposed which is suitable for stand-alone loads or ac grid applications. In this topology, coupled inductors and switched capacitor cells of parallel modules are merged to obtain high voltage conversion ratio. The converter also has the capability of adding extra switched capacitor cells to attain very high voltage gain. To provide soft-switching condition in the wide range of output power, a new zero-voltage transition auxiliary circuit is employed which is responsible for soft switching of both phases and benefits from low conduction losses, the minimum number of semiconductor elements, and only one auxiliary gate-driver. These merits provide very high efficiency at both full-load and light loads. More importantly, no auxiliary magnetic components are utilized by taking advantage of the leakage inductance of coupled inductors for the resonant network. All semiconductor components operate under soft switching alleviating the reverse recovery problem and switching losses. Besides, the converter benefits from common ground between input and output which simplify voltage feedback. The experimental results of the interleaved converter prototype with 400-V output voltage at 400 W and 100 kHz switching frequency are provided. The full load efficiency of 98% was achieved and the power density was observed 1.9 W/Cm3. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dual active bridge (DAB) converter operating with a relatively high switching frequency is well suited for deriving a high-power density electric vehicle (EV) charger. In this case, safeguarding the realization of zero voltage switching (ZVS) for a wide operating range becomes crucial to ensure a good performance in terms of efficiency and control reliability. Unfortunately, most modulation schemes available today in the literature require a detrimental compromise in the achievable ZVS range, particularly the ones working mainly toward the minimization of the current stress. Due to the fact a public EV charger will work with multiple vehicles having quite different charging profiles, i.e., with wide operational voltage and currents ratings, the ZVS operation may be prone to fail to undermine the whole cycle charging efficiency. To relieve the issues, this article proposes a new modulation scheme for the DAB converter featuring a maximized ZVS range and a quasi-optimal inductor rms current. Herein, the concept of dynamic settings of the required modulator's ZVS-current is utilized and a straightforward implementation with seamless circuit mode transition is achieved. With the above characteristics, the dynamic and static losses of the component circuits can be reduced together. By adopting the dynamic ZVS-current settings strategy, the turning-on currents of the DAB switches are adjusted in real-time guaranteeing the ZVS operation under various operating conditions. With the seamless transition, the inductor current can be smoothly regulated to ensure system stability. The proposed modulation scheme is introduced, analyzed, validated, and benchmarked in a 4.5 kW/100 kHz SiC-based DAB prototype, whose peak efficiency can reach 96.3% when operated at partial load. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modularity in hardware improves the manufacturability of power electronics systems and reduces maintenance costs. By paralleling modular ac–dc converters, the current capacity of SiC-based power conversion systems can be easily expanded. However, it is questionable which filter topology can be chosen for an arbitrary number of the converters ($N$). Considering interleaving, filters without any coupling may result in an overdesign. Meanwhile, filters that magnetically couple the paralleled converters may suffer from complexity in mechanical structure and $N-1$ redundancy. Based on these observations, this article proposes a filter structure that can be easily scaled to any number of converters. The proposed structure is comprised of a coupled inductor (CI) forming a loop of secondary windings, a single boost inductor on that loop, and a normally on normally closed (NONC) contactor per converter. Circulating currents are attenuated by the CI for any $N$. A single inductor rated for each channel realizes a boost inductor for a whole $N$ -converters, which can bring a significant benefit on power density and cost. When one of the converter faults, the faulty converter can be easily isolated from the system by the NONC contactor, thus achieving $N-1$ redundancy. The proposed filter topology is experimentally verified with a 20-kW full-SiC modular ac–dc converter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents the analysis and realization of a modular interconnected filter building block (FBB) operating under a single and multichannel (parallel three-phase converter blocks) configuration without loss of attenuation to any harmonic components. Emphasis is on the design of coupled inductor (CI) and boost inductor. In order to achieve a modular scheme with interleaved operation, indirect coupling between converters is realized using the secondary loop (SL)-based interconnection with inserted impedance. Here the “SL” serves as an additional pass for average grid side currents for N channels. A building block type configuration has been proposed using this topology, inspired by the power electronics building block (PEBB) nature. The purpose of the loop is to interconnect the parallel converters in series using an arrangement of CIs. In addition, a boost inductor has been introduced in the SL to realize a power factor correction rectifier operation. The CI serves as the circulating current filter while reflecting channel currents toward the SL. To meet conducted electromagnetic interference (EMI) limits, a two-stage LCLC filter has been integrated with the FBB by introducing the point of common coupling (PCC) connection between two stages for filter size reduction. A design procedure is presented to meet power quality, circulating current, and EMI limits as per industry standards (EN-55011 and IEEE-519/1594). The proposed FBB has been characterized using 3L-NPC converters enabled with 1.2 kV Silicon Carbide based modules with comprehensive performance validation up to three channels in parallel with 15-kW power rating per channel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, a new high voltage gain quasi-Z-source (QZS) dc–dc converter suitable for renewable energy applications is presented. The proposed converter utilizes a zero voltage transition auxiliary circuit with coupled inductors to provide soft-switching conditions for all switches for a wide range of output power. In addition, a switched capacitor circuit is employed to obtain a higher voltage gain and lower voltage stress. The main advantages of the proposed converter include high voltage gain, high efficiency, reduced switch and diode voltage stress, continuous input current, and common ground between the output and input, which are important features for photovoltaic applications. In this circuit, the reverse recovery problem of diodes is alleviated. Operating principles and design considerations of the proposed converter are analyzed. Moreover, to prove the validity of the theoretical analysis, a 200-W prototype of the proposed converter is implemented and the experimental results are shown. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The common inductor and common capacitor current sharing technologies with excellent current sharing capabilities and low cost have attracted a lot of attention in recent years. However, these methods have certain limitations when dealing with multiple resonate parameters mismatches of multiphase LLC converters. To solve this problem, this article proposes a unified common inductor and common capacitor scheme. First, the existing common inductor and common capacitor methods are reviewed. Based on the first harmonic approximation (FHA) analysis method, the limitations of these schemes are analyzed, and we find that the current sharing performance is not well when the multiresonant parameters are mismatched, which will cause the one-phase to bear more power, even overpowered and damaged. To realize a better current sharing of multiphase LLC modules, a unified common inductor and common capacitor method is proposed in this article, where the series resonant inductors and resonant capacitors in each LLC converter are connected in parallel. The current sharing performance of the proposed method is analyzed by the FHA analysis method, and the proof-of-concept prototype with a 480 W 24 V two-phase LLC converter was built to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method. Simulation and experimental results show that the current sharing error of the proposed method is 2.1% under half load and 0.9% under full load. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article proposes a fast predictive control method and a small dc-link inductor to minimize the dc-link current in current-source converter (CSC) based solid-state transformer. The dc-link current minimization can significantly reduce power loss and improve efficiency. The challenge of this problem is on improving both steady-state and dynamic performance. PI control methods and large dc-link inductors are conventionally used in the CSC but have limited dynamic performance. A model predictive control (MPC) method is proposed to achieve switching-cycle-level settling time, and the dc-link inductor is sized for 40% ripple to enable fast current change. Importantly, this article also proposes to minimize the dc-link current by varying the current even within a line cycle under single-phase load to improve the steady-state performance, in contrast with the reduction to a constant value in the literature. The proposed MPC features a constant switching frequency without weighting factors. The MPC does not have a high computational burden and is implemented in a regular digital controller for a prototype of soft-switching solid-state transformer (S4T) with reduced conduction loss. The effectiveness of the proposed method has been experimentally verified on the SiC S4T prototype during steady-state and dynamics under different multiport power flow conditions up to 2 kV peak. The dc-link current in the experiments is close to the minimum current with a short zero-vector duration, which further verifies the performance of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A variable-frequency critical-soft-switching (VF-CSS) model predictive control method is developed combining with a modified nonisolated inverter to improve the efficiency. A two-level control structure is developed, including 1) the central-level grid-side inductor current control and zero-sequence voltage control; and 2) the local-level per-phase power module control of VF-CSS model predictive controller with state estimator. Two VF-CSS controllers are proposed, including variable-continuous-frequency critical-soft-switching controller and variable-discrete-frequency critical-soft-switching, to achieve critical soft-switching operation for high efficiency. The combination of MPC and VF-CSS guarantees a complete critical soft-switching operation at full period range of varying frequency and especially during transient. The state estimator provides sampling noise rejection and accurate switch-side inductor current estimations for MPC and VF-CSS. Also, with the help of state estimator, the current sensor cost is reduced by 50%. Meanwhile, the estimator contributes to a more accurate switch-side inductor current reading for MPC implementation with variable continuous frequency controller, especially when the critical soft switching requires huge inductor current ripple. With the proposed control strategies and topology, medium-frequency ($>$ 200 kHz, 45 $\mu$ H) and high-frequency ($>$ 1 MHz, 4.5 $\mu$ H) test benches are validated experimentally. The efficiency is above 99% at a rated power of 15 kW. A power density of more than 10.4 kW/L is achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The optimization of dual active bridge converters (DAB) is widely studied and numerous modulation schemes are proposed to enhance the performance of a DAB converter. However, a unified description method both suitable for time and frequency domain analysis still lacks. Besides, the optimization process encounters a difficulty of the potential nonconvex feasible region restricted by the power transmission equality, making the regular convex optimization methods no longer applicable. To solve these problems, this article gave a unified description method both suitable for time and frequency domain analysis based on the standard decomposition of instantaneous electric quantities. Besides, a unified optimization method is proposed based on tangent point searching for the feasible region and optimization objective surfaces. With the proposed unified optimization method, the optimization objective can be designed arbitrarily as long as it is piecewise continuous, and smooth. An efficiency-oriented optimization objective design method is introduced considering all electric quantities as well as the soft-switching conditions. Finally, the experimental results confirm the unified optimization method and the efficiency-oriented optimization objective design method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bipolar dc grid systems are fast gaining attraction for renewable energy source integration, because of their merits of higher reliability, efficiency, and robustness as compared to the unipolar dc grids. However, the progress in multiport converters, resulting into lower cost and more compact design for bipolar microgrid systems, is fairly slow. Therefore, this article proposes a novel family of five nonisolated multiport dc–dc converter topologies with bipolar symmetric outputs. The performance and key operational features of the proposed converters under varying input voltages, duty cycles and loads are numerically verified and experimentally on an in-house test setup to prove the concept of the proposed converters. In the experimental validation, the operation of the converter under simultaneous and arbitrary individual power transfer from two input ports is tested. Furthermore, the easy integration of the proposed converters with a multilevel inverter to achieve high-quality ac voltages is demonstrated. As compared to the few existing counterparts, the proposed converters have a competitive edge in terms of higher number of input ports and voltage gains. Alongside the possibility of arbitrary independent power flow from the input ports, inherently symmetrical outputs require a simple balance control for asymmetrical members of the family. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A passive current sharing method for a two-phase common inductor LLC resonant converter is proposed in this article, and the relative mathematical analysis of current sharing error is carried out. The concept of a common inductor comes from the introduction of coupled impedance, where the resonant inductors of two phases are connected, which means that the separated two phases are coupled by an additional impedance. Obviously, there are four cases of coupled impedance, which are infinite impedance, infinitely small impedance, inductive impedance, and capacitive impedance, and they are all analyzed in the article. In addition, for different inductor and capacitor parameter differences, the two-phase common inductor LLC resonant converter has different current sharing characteristics, and there is an optimal solution for different coupled impedance for each difference. However, under each parameter difference, when the coupled index g is a negative number, there is generally a better current sharing effect. At last, simulation and experimental results have proved the correctness of the theoretical analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, a high-performance modified Y-source dc–dc converter is proposed. Comparing with traditional Y-source dc–dc converter, the proposed converter can achieve soft switching characteristics. Due to the discontinuous conduction mode operation of one of the coupled inductor windings and the resonant cell constructed by switch parasitic capacitor, the switch can operate in zero voltage switching (ZVS) and diodes realize zero current switching. Also, the voltage gain of the proposed converter is greatly improved. Meanwhile, the control strategy of hybrid pulsewidth modulation and PFM is adopted to guarantee the ZVS operation within a wide range. A 160 W experimental prototype based on planar coupled inductor is built to verify theoretical analysis and efficiency is up to 94.45% under full load condition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Utilizing an L-C-L network including first primary, a clamping capacitor and second primary, a phase-shift full-bridge converter with input current steering is designed and presented. This proposed converter inherits the advantages of the conventional phase-shift full bridge converter, including dv/dt noise attenuation via its zero voltage switching operation. Moreover, the current steering technique is realized with the help of a clamping capacitor implemented as a built-in second voltage source to share part of input current resulting in di/dt noise reduction. As a result, both di/dt and dv/dt noises can be attenuated and then electromagnetic interference (EMI) performance are improved. A conventional phase-shift full-bridge converter and the proposed converters are built for performance verification with an input from 300 to 390 V, switching frequency 100 kHz, and an output of 24 V, 15 A. Experimental result shows that the input current ripple of the proposed converter can be reduced in half to as small as 2.72 A, as opposed to the 5.20 A by the conventional converter, while the maximum EMI noise is successfully improved to 19.85 dBμV at 300 kHz. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The phase-shifted full-bridge (PSFB) converter is widely adopted in electric vehicles and energy storage applications. However, it suffers from several technical drawbacks such as voltage overshoot, hard switching, severe circulating current, and large reverse power. To address such issues, an improved control scheme is proposed to enhance the performances of bidirectional operation in the PSFB converter. In this method, the precharge stage and the cocharge stage are added by adjusting the phase-shift angle and duty ratio. The reverse power, circulating current, and transformer root mean square current can be reduced with the cocharge stage. And, due to the precharge stage, this method can constrict voltage overshoot very well, while achieving zero current switching on the large current side devices and zero voltage switching on the high-voltage side devices nearly along all the load range. The proposed method is described, analyzed, and validated in a 1-kW prototype, which presents 96.1% peak efficiency and improves average efficiency by about 2% in the experimental results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the solar panels and fuel cells have low output voltage, which need to be converted to the 400 V or higher dc bus voltage in the renewable energy power generation systems, where, the high gain dc–dc converter plays a key role. Furthermore, with the requirement of the converter in low cost and high efficiency, the soft-switching interleaved boost-type converters based on switched-capacitor and voltage multiplier cell as the high gain dc–dc converters have been widely applied. However, the above-mentioned soft-switching interleaved boost-type converters in literature have resonant spikes on the switches or there are coupled inductors, which will cause the high cost due to the large stresses of the switches or low efficiency due to the high core losses of the coupled inductors. To solve the above-mentioned problems, a modified interleaved capacitor clamped (MICC) dc–dc converter with non-resonant soft-switching (NRSS) is proposed, in which only an auxiliary inductor operating in discontinuous conduction mode with few μH is used to achieve the zero-current-switching for all switches and diodes. Furthermore, the operating principle of the proposed converter is given, the interleaved boost structure is used as the front stage of the proposed converter to reduce the input current ripple and lighten the current stress on all switches and magnetic components, the MICC structure with NRSS as the output stage is proposed as a voltage multiplier module to achieve the high voltage gain. Then, the circuit parameter design for this converter is presented. Finally, a 400 W experimental prototype is built to verify the correctness and the effectiveness of the proposed topology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Relying on the advantages of small size, good controllability, and consistency, printed circuit board (PCB) inductors are being widely used. For PCB inductors, reducing copper loss is one of the key issues. Although some research works focus on fringing effect in PCB planar winding, there are few methods to reduce proximity loss for PCB inductor. Regarding the abovementioned issues, this letter first improves the Ferreira’s 1-D copper loss model to accommodate the core feature of PCB winding: variable number of turns per layer. With this model, pyramid theorem is proposed that putting the layer with fewer turns into positions farther away from the air gaps can lower the total winding loss. Based on the theorem, this letter proposes a novel PCB inductor-winding structure named pyramid winding, which has fewer (or equal) turns on layers farther from air gaps. Pyramid winding has less copper loss, fewer copper layers, smaller size, and lower cost. In the experiment, inductor prototypes with the same six turns and ferrite pot cores but different PCB winding arrangements are built for a 300-kHz 2700-W LLC converter. Tests on inductor resistance and converter efficiency are done, and the pyramid theorem and the effectiveness of pyramid winding are verified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a transformerless high step-down dc–dc converter based on a stacked active bridge (SAB) configuration. The SAB converter consists of series-stacked capacitively coupled inverter modules and parallel-connected rectifier modules. The nominal step-down conversion ratio is determined by the number of the inverter modules, while the output current capability scales with the number of the paralleled rectifier modules. SAB operating principles, including phase-shift control and soft switching, achieved through series inductors, are similar to transformer-isolated dual active bridge converters. It is found that the best size versus loss tradeoff is achieved by integration of the series inductors on a custom core. Furthermore, it is shown that how soft switching contributes to natural voltage sharing among the series-stacked inverter modules. The approach is verified by experimental results on a 400–48 V, 3-kW SAB prototype using GaN devices and featuring 400- ${\mathrm{W/}}{\text{in}}^{3}$ power density. A flat efficiency curve is obtained with 99% peak efficiency, 97.5% full-load efficiency, and 98% efficiency at 20% load. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a cost-effective thermal characterization approach that relies on temperature measurements and numerical simulations to solve an inverse heat transfer (IHT) problem for the in situ estimation of thermophysical properties of high-frequency magnetic components. This approach is applied to the magnetic components of a commercial electric vehicle dc fast charger, specifically, to an air-cooled inductor-transformer assembly. Numerical simulations solve a conjugate conduction–convection IHT problem based on surface temperature measurements collected during realistic operating conditions of the charger. These simulations enable rapid in situ estimation of the specific heat capacities, thermal conductivities, volumetric heat generation rates, and convective heat transfer coefficients of the cores and windings of these magnetic components. These estimated properties are then used as inputs in a direct heat transfer (DHT) simulation for the thermal analysis of these components under different cooling conditions, namely natural and forced convection. The thermal analysis of the inductor-transformer assembly shows that active air cooling with forced convection allows sustaining the measured charging power (28.8 kW) up to 6630 s when the surface temperatures of the cores reach the 100 $^{\circ }$ C threshold. This charging time is 61.7% longer than that allowed by the passive air cooling at the same charging power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tuning the receiver to match the resonant frequency with the working frequency plays an important role in improving the efficiency. One of the crucial steps in tuning is to determine the value or degree of detuning. In order to obtain the receiver reactance used to determine the detuning value, this article proposes a pulse density modulation (PDM)-based receiver reactance identification method. The parameter identification is performed as follows: implementing PDM technology on the active single-phase rectifier (ASPR) to bring in interharmonics and through Fast Fourier Transformation and least-square approximation, values of inductor and capacitor of the receiver can be identified. This estimation method only requires the magnitudes of voltage and current into ASPR for estimation. No extra hardware, no need to synchronize with the transmitter. In the experimental verification, four cases of resonant, inductive, and capacitive receivers are designed. Results show the maximum relative errors for estimation are within 5%, based on which the ASPR can tune the receiver as resonant. The situation that parameter deviates from the nominal value is also considered, even with deviations of mutual inductance and transmitter-side reactance, the estimation accuracy of receiver-side reactance is still at an average level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article addresses the design of reconfigurable single-inductor multiport converters with bidirectional power flow, no cross regulation, and simple control. The design uses both the voltage-source-mode and current-source-mode cells, thus allowing a full range of connectivity. The proposed single-inductor converters offer high modularity and scalability while offering bidirectional power flow and no cross regulation. The single-inductor structure reduces the overall size. The adoption of voltage-source-mode and current-source-mode cells leads to high modularity. High scalability is achieved due to arbitrary ports being allowed to the derived converters. Moreover, the topology inherently achieves no cross regulation among the output ports. The ports of the derived converters are reconfigurable, permitting transformation among single-input multi-output mode, multi-input multi-output mode, and multi-input single-output mode. Through the transformation of operating modes, bidirectional power flow is achieved. Thus, regenerative loads can be integrated seamlessly. In terms of control, the absence of cross regulation permits the adoption of very simple control design, leading to high flexibility. Thus, the derived converters can integrate multiple and various kinds of terminating sources and loads simultaneously with simple control methods. A reconfigurable single-inductor four-port converter is presented for illustration. Finally, experimental results are presented to verify the analytical findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The multiexcitation units wireless power transfer (MEU-WPT) technology provides a flexible modular-based solution for high power applications with large coupling tolerances. However, complicated cross-coupling and multi-variable parameters may cause the drifting of the resonant operating frequency due to equivalent impedance changes. This article proposed a dynamic tuning method for zero phase angle (ZPA) frequency operation of a MEU-WPT system at a constant frequency. The equivalent impedance of a WPT system with multiple excitation units is analyzed and found to be determined by the coupling coefficient, load resistance, and dc input voltages. Theoretical modeling analyses are conducted to show the ability to maintain a constant ZPA frequency against load and coupling variations by dc input voltage control. Moreover, a practical MEU-WPT system is built with two excitation units, and the experimental results demonstrate that ZPA frequency operation at 90 kHz is achieved with improved power efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intrinsically safe power converters have been highly demanded in many harsh industrial environments, such as gas stations, chemical plants, and mine tunnels, to realize accurate voltage or current regulations with minimum safety risks. Communication among different devices is the key to realizing important operations, such as coordinated control, fault detection, and state update, for intrinsically safe converters. In this article, a capacitor current pulse train (CC-PT) control strategy is designed to increase the dynamic response of dc–dc converter with intrinsic operational safety. An orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) based power and signal synchronous transmission (PSST) method is then proposed. The mathematical models of signal modulation are established, and the intrinsic safety region is drawn in the L–C parameters plane, considering the requirements of electric performance, the inductor disconnection discharging, and output short-circuit tests. Simulations and prototype experiments are conducted and presented to verify the feasibility of the OFDM-based PSST in the CC-PT-controlled buck converter with intrinsically safe parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Variable speed drives (VSDs) for electric motors are a foundational component of global electrification, with electric motors consuming 45% of global electricity. Conventional three-phase buck–boost inverter topologies have substantial low-frequency current stresses in the buck–boost inductor, driving size, losses, and cost in VSD systems. In this letter, we propose a novel circuit topology for phase-modular three-phase buck–boost inverter systems based on the four-switch noninverting buck–boost concept, which we call the return path inductor Y-inverter (RPI-YI). By relocating the buck–boost inductors from the forward current path to the return path, the RPI-YI concept reduces the inductor rms and peak current stresses by up to $90 \%$ compared to a conventional topology, resulting in a potential magnetics volume reduction of $80 \%$. The RPI-YI concept, therefore, supports more compact, efficient realizations of modular buck–boost VSD systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High step-down voltage-ratio converters are widely used in medium-/high-voltage systems, such as solar power equipment and electric charging station as auxiliary power supplies fed from the dc bus. Traditionally, magnetic transformer-based solutions with high turns ratio are implemented for voltage conversion and galvanic isolation. Instead of utilizing electromagnetic coupling, the high-voltage Rosen-type piezoelectric transformer (PT) provides an alternative solution with electro-mechanical coupling, whose equivalent circuit can be represented by a resonant circuit with an ideal transformer. Moreover, the high-voltage Rosen-type PT features natural mechanisms for high-voltage insulation, high-voltage conversion ratio, and a compact planar form factor, which are all beneficiary for a high step-down auxiliary power supply. This article renders a Rosen-type PT-based high step-down voltage-ratio converter with comprehensive analysis and detailed design procedure. To better understand the operating principle, electrical characteristics of the PT are first analyzed. Effects of input and output compensation components of the PT and their tolerance analysis are subsequently discussed to optimize the performance. After that, topologies of both the input inverter and the output regulation stages are selected. The proposed design is finally validated by a planar prototype with 10-mm height, 5 W full output power, 200 V to 1.5 kV input voltage, and 5 V regulated output voltage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The active clamp flyback (ACF) converter has been widely adopted because of the feature of isolation, soft-switching, and high conversion efficiency. On the other hand, due to the characteristic of the circuit cost reduction and the fast control response, the primary-side regulation (PSR) has become a popular control method for isolated power converters. However, high precision PSR strategies for ACF converters are not exposed. Therefore, the aim of this article is to propose a high precision PSR strategy for the ACF converter. Relations between the primary-side current and the secondary-side current are analyzed and derived. Both of the continuous conduction mode operation and the discontinuous conduction mode operation will be considered. The output voltage control mode or the output current control mode can be selected via the proposed strategy. In addition, a secondary-side losses compensation (SSLC) strategy is developed to deal with the non-ideal circuit characteristics as well as to enhance the control accuracy. Operational principles and thorough mathematical derivations will also be revealed. Finally, both simulation and experimental results obtained from a 100 W prototype circuit demonstrate the performance and feasibility of the proposed PSR and SSLC strategy. Validations show that the control accuracy of the output voltage and the output current are 98.54% and 98.42%, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The lowest input voltage for a single-inductor switched-inductor (SL) boost charger to draw power is critical for energy-harvesting applications. When a battery is fully discharged, the charger solely relies on the millivolt input-source voltage vS to wake the system. When the charger is awake and operates in static mode, it needs to draw power from low voltage vS efficiently. Thus, the major contribution of this article is theorizing the fundamental limits of SL converters, and experimentally validating the lowest vS possible for a single-inductor boost to operate, both in wake and static mode. This article derives closed-form design expressions for all circuit components and validates the design theory with a 1.6-μm CMOS prototype. When source resistance is 350 Ω, this prototype validates that the lowest-possible vS for SLs in wake mode is 225–285 mV. In static mode, the lowest-possible vS for SLs is 40 mV. Despite recent literature shows that switched-capacitors (SCs) can wake with lower vS, theorizing and experimentally validating the lowest vS possible for SL converters can prove the fundamental limits of SL chargers. Moreover, since this article also validates that SLs operate with lower vS than SCs in static mode, thus, SC-SL hybrids are the best system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When facing the current sensor failures, the inverter system will be shut down or run in open-loop mode, and the controllability will be severely degraded. Therefore, the development of the current sensorless control strategy for the grid-connected inverter is worthy of academic attention. In order to solve this problem, a current observation method is proposed in this article, which is enhanced by the virtual impedance and operation data based error correction. The method combines the control scheme variables of dc side voltage and ac side grid voltage to observe the ac side inductor current. The output of current sensors can be replaced in the current closed-loop control, contributing to the current sensorless control. The research results show that the current observation method can effectively track the real-time current and the virtual impedance implementation ensures the accuracy of this current observation. Under the impedance refined current observations, dynamic variations in inductor current can be timely reflected, and the stable operation of the current sensorless closed-loop control can be ensured. Finally, the correctness and effectiveness of the proposed control strategy have been verified by MATLAB / Simulink simulation and experimental results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores how to improve the light load efficiency of a critical conduction mode (CRM)-based two-channel paralleled soft-switching three-phase inverter. Although the CRM-based soft-switching scheme achieves high efficiency at heavy load, the efficiency drops rapidly as the output power decreases. Its CRM-based operation makes the switching frequency soar because of the small inductor currents at light load giving rise to the high switching-related loss. To enlarge the inductor current handled by the first channel of the inverter, a phase shedding control is proposed to not excite gate signals for the second channel, thus bringing the first channel's frequency down. The phase shedding is put into effect to only two phases in the second channel running at high frequency to circumvent the undesired circulating current in the two-channel paralleled inverter structure. In addition, for very light load conditions (below 10%), frequency limiting methods are introduced in conjunction with the phase shedding to further improve the efficiency. Experimental results with a 25-kW SiC-based inverter prototype verify that the phase shedding control improves the light load efficiency by 0.5 to 3.9%. It is further improved by 0.3 to 1.3% with the frequency limiting under very light load conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hybrid and resonant switched-capacitor (SC) convertersenable efficient utilization of both active and passive components, and have the potential to achieve higher efficiency and higher power density than conventional SC and magnetic-based converters. One or more added inductors offer an additional degree of freedom in the design space. It is of great interest to understand the tradeoffsbetween capacitor and inductor size and volume allocation. In this article, we analyze the reactive energy processed by the passive components and use it to calculate the total passive component volume. It is shown that the total passive component volume of resonant SC (ReSC) converters can be expressed as a function of flying capacitor voltage ripple, and the optimized capacitor voltage ripple that minimizes the total volume is dependent on topology specific parameters and the relative energy density ratio between capacitors and inductors. Moreover, we also demonstrate through theoretical analysis and experimentation that ReSC converters use significantly less passive component volume than conventional SC and buck converters for the same amount of power converted. Next, to compare different ReSC topologies, a normalized passive volume parameter is proposed for simple and fair comparison. This can be used along with a normalized switch stress parameter (based on switch VA ratings) to create a framework to showcase the relative performance of different topologies. This framework can be used to visualize and compare the passive and active component utilization among different topologies. Additionally, the proposed reactive power analysis is extended to hybrid converters with regulation capability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Active power decoupling (APD) technology is an effective solution to store the double-line frequency ripple power in the single-phase system and remove the bulky aluminum electrolytic capacitors. However, APD introduces power loss because of adding extra switches operating at high frequency, which hurts the system efficiency inevitably. Addressing this issue, this article proposes an improved boost power factor correction (PFC) rectifier with a buck-type APD cell. An auxiliary circuit, composed of a resonant inductor and a diode, is added. With the developed modulation strategy, zero voltage switching of the switches both in the PFC and APD circuits is achieved, which improves the system efficiency significantly. This article first describes operating modes and then analyzes the soft-switching condition of each switch. Finally, a 300 W prototype is built and the experimental result shows that the efficiency is increased by 4%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parallel inverters can be connected using cross-coupled inductors (CIs) to produce high-quality line voltages in three-phase ac systems. Since no fundamental flux is present in the inductor cores, their size can be made considerably smaller than alternative inductor configurations. Interleaved switching and phase-shifted carriers (PS-PWM) can be used to produce multilevel three-phase line voltages. A modified approach (MPS-PWM) improves the quality of the line voltages by changing the phase of the carriers, carrier swapping, based upon the magnitude of the modulating signals. Since carrier swapping in MPS-PWM can cause the inductor circulating currents and flux patterns to jump and have dc offsets, two carrier transition techniques are presented to eliminate these jumps: carrier manipulation and pulse injection. These techniques represent open-loop PWM control, dependent only on the carrier phase change being used, and can easily be applied to an arbitrary number of parallel-connected inverters. The circulating currents and inductor flux patterns follow predictable patterns, allowing the CIs to be designed more precisely. The relative merits of using MPS-PWM over PS-PWM are assessed using measurements of the load current total harmonic distortion and the line voltage harmonic volt–seconds. The feasibility of the parallel inverter system described is verified using simulations and results from an experimental laboratory prototype. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A cascaded modular model predictive control (MMPC) method is designed for a modified nonisolated $LCL$ grid-connected inverters to provide resonance damping, improved dynamic performance, and leakage current attenuation capabilities. The continuous control set model predictive control strategy is applied for the proposed method. The active damping function of the inner loop MMPC is analyzed in detail to illustrate the mechanism of improving the system dynamic performance. The cascaded MMPC method is compared with the conventional proportional-integral (PI) control methods with/without a notch filter to show the merits in resonance damping and dynamic response. The optimal control parameters design procedure is elucidated with the tuning mechanism of the MMPC weighing factor and PI gain. With the proposed optimal MMPC design method, the dynamic performance of rising time and overshoot are improved compared to the conventional PI control methods with/without the notch filter. The simulation and experimental results verified the proposed control design method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plasma power supply is an important equipment to output an adjustable radio-frequency voltage for generating capacitively coupled plasma (CCP). Nowadays, radio-frequency power amplifier (RFPA) is popular for implementing plasma power supply. However, a bulky matching network is needed to be located between the RFPA and CCP, resulting in low power density and high system complexity. In this article, a buck-type inverter is proposed to directly power CCP, which not only outputs an RF ac voltage with low harmonics, but also realizes zero-voltage-switching for power switch over a wide capacitive load range. The derivation of the buck-type inverter is presented, and a step-by-step parameters design approach is proposed. Finally, a 13.56-MHz, 28-W prototypeis fabricated and a CCP discharge experiment is carried out. The experimental results are provided to verify the effectiveness of the proposed buck-type inverter and parameters design approach. The power density of prototype is 15 W/in3, which is much higher than traditional plasma power supply with 0.06 W/in3. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Single-phase inverter or rectifier systems often make use of an active power decoupler (APD) to balance the mismatch between constant dc power and fluctuating ac power. This article deals with the comparison of continuous conduction mode (CCM) and critical conduction mode (CRM) operation-based design of a parallel boost-type APD for photovoltaic microinverter applications. From a design perspective, multiobjective analysis of efficiency, volume, and cost is explored within a decision space including planar inductors, gallium nitride based devices, film capacitors, switching frequency, and modulation (CCM vs. CRM). The theoretical study analyzes all possible design configurations within CCM and CRM and identifies Pareto-optimal designs, from which the selected CRM design can achieve reduced system volume and lower cost with the use of smaller inductor core, while operating with similar California Energy Commission efficiency drop as the selected CCM design. From a control perspective, a pulsewidth modulation based control strategy is proposed to implement closed-loop CRM modulation that does not rely on zero-crossing detection. Closed-loop systems are designed for the optimal CCM and CRM realizations, and the final system characteristics are compared. Experimental results, obtained using two separate 40-V, 400-W hardware prototypes for CCM and CRM, are presented to verify the analyses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]